The last week on Hive has been interesting, as there has been a lot of talk about powering up, powering down, extracting, voting, downvoting.... The list goes on. And while there is no consensus on what is right wrong or even in the middle, there is one thing I think we can all drink to.
Hive connects us.
Back in the day, there was a lot of talk about what content was right for Hive. But I think, that while it is important to have a very broad range of topics, there should also be a healthy dose of Hive-centric content. This is likely not a popular view for many, but the thing is, that unlike pretty much all other content here, the only thing that is really unique to Hive, is Hive content.
Of course, it doesn't help if it is only inward facing and no one outside the blockchain ever sees it, but that is another matter. On the platform, pretty much everyone, whether the largest whale or the smallest minnow looking to grow, should be interested. Those who think there is a future in investing, or those looking to earn some votes, power it all down and run,
Should be interested.
Inward-facing content shouldn't be considered a problem on Hive, because of the decentralized nature of it. If this was Facebook or similar, that would be different, as the public sphere isn't the place for a company to have their conversations about technology, business practices, or any other aspects of the corporate process. But, this isn't a centralized platform, it is Hive, and everyone has a chance to be part of the ownership model and secure stake in multiple ways.
These discussions should be had in the open, at least for those who are in the general stake level and aren't making direct decisions about underlying technology. Those conversations tend to be had in other places between the devs and largest stakeholders. But, I think that the people who actually take part in the conversations on the chain, discuss the pros and cons of staking or downvoting, supporting other applications, or considering what is appropriate to upvote, tend to be the ones who are the most engaged.
I was talking about having skin in the game the other day and there is more to it than just having some Hive Power isn't there? Can an individual be part of a community passively? I don't know, but I think that it is something to consider if that same individual is looking for particular outcomes. Passivity is inappropriate in that case then, isn't it? Because if particular outcomes are sought, then certain conditions are required, and to get to those conditions, actions and influence has to take place to build it.
Influence.
In a world of social media influencers, on Hive, Hive Power is a big part of the ability. Just like advertising can be used to promote a new product, a product on Hive can use HP to promote. But, it isn't just voting up their content into Trending. Instead, it can be used to promote the content that is being created for their product. If Splinterlands had built a culture of supporting quality Splinterlands content created by Splinterlands players, that engaged and developed the Splinterlands community, it would be reason to create. And then, if those creators actually built their Hive stake to support other player-creators, it would be a vibrant community on the chain that compounds value for all. But, for most of the Splinterlands players, Hive was a way to earn to invest more into Splinterlands for individual gain, not community.
This makes sense.
If Hive was like YouTube.
But it isn't. It isn't a corporation that lives off ad revenue, it is a community that relies on community support and individuals to invest, stay invested to some degree and actively participate. And it is because of this that those who do invest and see a potential future here, aren't that keen on those who are just looking to extract. The extractors aren't gaining from conglomerates like Google and Microsoft here, it is at the expense of individuals like me, those who have a longer view and have invested into the community.
But, how is the average person that comes into Hive able to understand that this isn't TikTok or Twitter, when all they see is the same content that they would see on other platforms? If there isn't content that they come across that discusses being part of the community itself, they are never going to see any benefits and likely, aren't going to get much gain, because the votes on their content will unlikely be enough to sustain them.
The value of Hive isn't in the votes, it is in the ownership. The votes however are one of the ways to work into that ownership. But, they are also a way to earn a little to extract and never own, even though that method will ultimately dwindle to zero.
At the end of the day, maybe none of this matters and the content itself is meaningless. It wouldn't surprise me. But, what isn't meaningless is human connection, where people interact and engage with each other in meaningful ways, trying to be part of something meaningful together. So much of the work we do in this world is actually meaningless to our survival, but we have built mechanisms where we must do this work to survive. Hive might be no different, other than this world, we own.
Well, those who have a little stake do. Or those with a lot, as the case may be.
Right, they are my pre-bed thoughts on this topic tonight, and after a long work week doing that meaningless busywork that pays the bills, I think I should actually get some sleep. If I am lucky, I will dream of a bright, vibrant community on Hive that is looking to be the best version of a digital community possible.
What would that community look like?
TikTok, Twitter, Facebook, Instagram, Tinder?
Taraz
[ Gen1: Hive ]
I think what it all boils down to is going back to the decentralized nature of Hive. People can do what they want. If people want to extract everything or do mischievous things, they can do that, but they shouldn't be angry if people don't vote for them, or even downvote them. Those who have a lot of stake in Hive want to protect it and make Hive successful. If they think extractors are doing something unhealthy for Hive, they are within their rights to vote against those.
What constitutes 'mischeivous' things?
No one should be downvoted for taking their earnings on HIVE, unless it's tied up to other nefarious actions, but I think this needs defining more as there's a lot of people worried this week that they'll be penalized for taking some Hive out to buy bread or whatever!
This is different for everyone. For me, it can be fully AI generated posts, or plagiarized content to give a few examples. I don't really downvote people, and I'm not a whale for my votes to matter all that much though.
I agree with your second statement, and from the whale posts I've seen they're not really downvoting just for taking Hive out. What I did see is them limiting their votes to those that build their accounts; which they have every right to do.
Totally agree with the AI and plagiarism - been working hard in my community to curb that where I can with zero tolerance.
I'm still a little uncomfortable with whales only supporting people who don't power down. I know it's their right, but Im still uncertain it's the right thing to do, unless I'm missing something.
You can be supportive of the platform, but still power down when you need to and come back and build your vests when you can and are able. If whales don't support quality content from people engaging with the platform, then the earning off social media aspect of it seems dead to me.
Sure, penalize those milking the system and not putting ANYTHING back, but I'm a little fuzzy and unsure about what the big players are doing here.
I think it's a misunderstanding that whales only support those who don't power down. From Azircon's posts, there was the KE, which if it is too high means the account is most likely just an extractor. The whales are against those that just power down and don't build.
This is what the little accounts - or even the middle classes - need reassurance about b
I don't think it is necessarily for taking it off Hive. However, why would they be encouraged to keep earning on Hive? The downvote can limit their future extractions, especially if the content isn't overly good anyway.
Yeah sure, shit content, shit self interested players, etc - absolutely discourage.
But your average Hiver who is trying best, engaging, powers down a bit because they need it, comes back, curates, gets involved as best can - they need supporting as much as the person who invests and never powers down. Otherwise it feels elitist to me.
Yes, they can.
Yet they are. I know one person recently who powered down because they got an unfollow from an account that used to support them. They went full spam too with low quality content. Pathetic.
You are in the minority on this opinion. Welcome :)
I love the conversations here when they are respectful and don't end up in reprisals. There's quite a few people around worried that their opinion not be taken too kindly to and that will affect how they are treated on the platform. There's also a lot of people worried if they power down they'll also fall into disfavour.
I really do believe in the power of connected communities here. I've not come across it on any other platform, which is why many of us stuck around. It does indeed give many of our lives at least a little meaning here. Huzzah for that.
I totally get that. I guess people like you - the larger stakeholders because you've been financially mobile and hard working enough here with enough connections to get to this point - need to think about defining what 'extraction' really means. I think a lot of people are worried, after the discussion this week, that they'll miss out on support for powering down, when they need the cash they've earned, or choose to spend it as they wish, which is also fair enough.
Yep. Some people and projects are pretty pathetic though :) In general though, it isn't a bad thing to speak up, if done earnestly. Many people who get downvoted in reprisal, aren't coming to the conversation on an even keel.
As I said in the other comment above, the extraction of owned assets isn't a problem. But, future earnings aren't owned. a stakeholder can decide to keep supporting or not, or adjusting earnings (downvotes) if they think that the earnings are not worth the content value, considering that those earnings will also not add value to stake. I think to have a healthy content community, content creators also have to be content supporters. Can't really do that without stake here.
I agree that it is important that we have these discussions in the open, but it also needs to be something that people can compromise on and action can actually be taken. I've worked in too many places where people tell you they want you to be open and give your opinion, but really they already have their mind made up, are unwilling to compromise, and are going to do what they want anyway. That isn't productive at all.
Yeah, I get that. What most people want though is a place to complain without ramifications. They don't want to actually be part of a solution, even though they want to benefit from one.
I don't disagree with you there either.
“Prioritizing engagement and collaboration”, when the goal of most is ”making a profit”. There are few I know who have invested in the platform and still do, ahead of many Latinos who when they gather $10 in their wallets withdraw it, usually out of economic necessity.
There are organized communities whose objective is to “self-vote”, establishing rules of permanence that go from integrating the “trail”, ceding a certain percentage of HP, among others.
There are others who are committed to the fundamental idea, such as “unique content that leaves something positive in the reader”, there are those who do so, but because they are not with the “mafias within HIVE”, they do not receive a favourable vote.
Regardless of what the reason is, right? If someone has a business, it is to make profit, to make a living. But, if that business person doesn't invest into their business, into marketing, into what they offer, the business will fail, no matter their intention.
And yes, a lot of the south American people seem to extract most of what they get. Which I understand but at the same time, if their stream of income stops here, they are left with nothing.
Not sure what "mafias on Hive" you are talking about. There are some voting circles and the like though.
Now I only reward posts and comments that I like. I give the reward in HBD and it doesn’t matter to me whether the person raises HP or sells HIVE. I don't think HIVE sales(by the authors) will have much of an impact on HIVE's price.
Might not have much impact on the price of Hive, but it does have impact on the value of the community.
The last week has been interesting. I am just wondering if actions being taken by some will do anything to improve upon the human connections you talk about.
Unlikely they will. It will more likely be the same people who will double-down on their community approach. That is a fine result too.
I think we should keep our HP or even powering up in this period if we want HIVE to be continued.
I agree. But many want to take the other approach of "get out with something" :D
It is short-sighted.
I haven’t tried powering up though but I’m working hard to increase my HP
Right now, I’d be powering up at least four times a month so my fellow Hivians can take me seriously😁😁
I do wish everyone could see the big picture and have long term goals!
Ecency has lots of plans for the future, so I'm out asking for votes.
Please vote for the Ecency Proposal.
https://ecency.com/proposals?filter=team
Ecency devs need funds to keep improving and adding new features.
Starting this season, I started taking the weekly SPS rewards from my two alt accounts and swapped them for HIVE to powerup my main account. I'm ready to step boldly into more Hive communities and decided it was time to start moving in on a weekly basis.
As you said, over my first year of creating on Hive, I was mostly supporting the HIVE:VOUCHER LP with whatever extra Hive I earned from writing, and occasionally I would swap for DEC to buy a new shiny thing. Now the tables have turned and I'm looking forward to seeing my connections and communities grow. I'm working on daily content (I think I missed my monthly writer badge by one day in August) through Actifit and Splinterlands, plus I'm excited about sharing with the StreetArt community.
But I think InLeo has a nice revenue share model with its advertising on its short-form platform and uses part of the proceeds to buyback its own token. I think it is a cool model and have thought about paying the HBD for the premium service and more reach on the threads platform. But I don't think I have the reach or the Splinterlands crowd on InLeo to make that worth the tokens and effort.
I think it is some combination of TikTok, Reddit, and Google Maps.